Welcome to the First My 70s TV Childhood Quiz! Get ready to test your knowledge and reminisce about the iconic TV shows, historical events, and unforgettable moments that shaped our childhoods.
This quiz extravaganza is here to add a touch of nostalgia to your podcast playlist. With an episode released every other week, alongside our regular fortnightly episodes.
Get your pen and paper ready, as it’s time to put your brain cells to the test. We’ve curated four rounds, with five questions that will challenge your knowledge of 70s TV and a dash of social history.
Your task? To gather as many of the 20 points up for grabs as you can.
We’re eager to hear about your performance. Get in touch, and you might just get a shoutout on the upcoming Quiz show. Plus, if you have any suggested questions, feel free to share them with us—we’d be thrilled to include them!
Round One: “Spin the Wheel – TV Year 1975”
Question 1.1: One of my favourite cop shows, The Sweeney, was launched in 1975. Jack Reagan and George Carter were the heroes, but what was the name of their boss?
Answer 1.1: Haskins
Question 1.2: Fawlty Towers also launched in 1975 to great acclaim. How many episodes of the show were made? And a clue is, not many.
Answer 1.2: 12
Question 1.3: Some shows ended this year, amongst them was one of my favorite gameshows as a child which ran from 1967 to 1975. It was made by ATV and its presenters included Jackie Rae, Norman Vaughan, and Charlie Williams as well as one other very well-known host. What was it?
Answer 1.3: The Golden Shot
Question 1.4: On 23rd April this year, the original Doctor Who, William Hartnell sadly died. How old was he?
Answer 1.4: 67
Question 1.5: The most watched TV show of this year attracted 22.66 million viewers. What was it?
Answer 1.5: The Royal Variety Performance
Round Two: “Marathon – Fil Rouge”
Question 2.1: In our episode “Saturday Night’s All Right” I mentioned that my mother made the same dish every week, without fail, for our Saturday tea/dinner/supper (depending on where you live) which was the meal we ate in front of shows like The Two Ronnies, Kojak and Starsky and Hutch? Was it A: macaroni cheese,B: fish fingers and chips or C: spaghetti bolognese?
Answer 2.1: c: Spaghetti Bolognese
Question 2.2: In our recent episode about the children’s show How! Who did we fondly remember sitting smoking a pipe?
Answer 2.2: Jack Hargreaves
Question 2.3: Which children’s TV host of Playschool and Fingerbobs claimed that “marijuana was like cornflakes” in terms of its availability during his time at the BBC?
Answer 2.3: Rick Jones
Question 2.4: What was the name of the public information film featuring a sports day held on a railway track which gave me, and many of my fellow pupil’s nightmares?
Answer 2.4: The Finishing Line
Question 2.5: In our first episode featuring 1970’s TV ads, what was my number one advert from the decade? Was it a: R Whites and the Secret lemonade Drinker, or b; The Cadbury’s smash aliens or was it c: the Hovis advert with the boy on the bike freewheeling down the hill?
Answer 2.5: b: the smash aliens
Round Three: “Spin the Wheel – In this year…1979”
Question 3.1: Easy one to start with, just to lull you into a false sense of security. Who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in May 1979?
Answer 3.1: Margaret Thatcher
Question 3.2: What was the average house price in the UK in 1979? To within £5,000 either way.
Answer 3.2: £13,650
Question 3.3: The most highly rated TV show of 1979, with 23.95 million viewers was the Christmas edition of “To the Manor Born” where Audrey Forbes Hamilton and Richard De Vere finally got it together. But what was the Christmas Number One record that year?
Answer 3.3: Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) by Pink Floyd
Question 3.4: On 19th March of this year, which Porridge star died at the tragically young age of 31?
Answer 3.4: Richard Beckinsale
Question 3.5: And on the 26th of June 1979, the 11th James Bond movie and the fourth starring Roger Moore was released. What was its title?
Answer 3.5: Moonraker
Round Four: “TV Times”
Question 4.1: Where was the school holiday TV perennial favorite, The White Horses filmed?
Answer 4.1: Slovenia
Question 4.2: Who presented the BBC’s children’s film quiz Screen Test between 1970 and 1979?
Answer 4.2: Michael Rodd
Question 4.3: In the Hannah Barbera cartoon show “Help! It’s The Hare Bear Bunch” where did the bears and their keeper Mister Peevley live?
Answer 4.3: In the Wonderland Zoo
Question 4.4: During the 1970s who lived at number 13, Coronation Street?
Answer 4.4: Stan and Hilda Ogden and their family and lodgers, including the wonderful Eddie Yeates.
Question 4.5: What phrase did Ron Pickering use at the end of every episode of “We are the Champions” to signal mayhem as all the kids taking part jumped into the swimming pool?
Answer 4.5: “And away you go!”
Bonus Question: 1975 was the year that Runaround came to our screens hosted by everyone’s favourite cockney geezer Mike Reid. Now Mike was a bit of a strange choice to host a children’s gameshow as he seemed to spend half of the time shouting at the poor kids as they tried to put their coloured balls into the right tube. Well, in Runaround style I’m going to give you three facts about Mike Reid, of which one is not true – can you tell which?
The facts are: A: He had a number one UK hit single B: He introduced the famous bare-knuckle boxer Lenny McLean, aka The Guvnor, to acting and helped get him a part in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and C: he was president of Chelmsford City Football Club
Bonus Answer : Email me at oliver@my70stvchildhood.com or tune into our next episode of My 70’s TV Childhood quiz to find out!
